Although, I’ve spoken about this a little on Twitter, I’d just like to apologise for my disappearance, both on this blog and elsewhere online. I’ve recently moved away from home for university, which affected my mental health pretty badly. I’m still adjusting and trying to get back into the swing of self-care, but it’s proving a little difficult. No matter, I’m going to try my best to balance it all with this blog too!
Anyways, for this month’s character, I decided against using someone known throughout the YA world, exploring the wider genre of adult fiction. Then, I landed on someone I fell in love with from the very first page.
Louisa Clark | Me Before You
Although, I’m aware of the fact that there are now three titles in the Me Before You series, I’m only going to be talking about the first installment. I feel as if the novel ended perfectly, managing to make me cry in the middle of the night after completing it, so I refuse to acknowledge the money-making scheme that seems to have come of a perfectly finished book.
Louisa Clark is the protagonist of the novel, being a wonderfully sweet young woman seeking work after losing her job as a waitress. Her continuous motivation to do good throughout the novel is deeply inspiring, creating this brilliant character who continuously shows the reader just why we should side with a girl like Lou.
Personally, my favourite aspect of this character is her uniqueness. Louisa Clark is known for her quirky dress sense and innocence. Being a young girl in a somewhat boring occupation and setting, her dress sense represents the boldness of her character. By placing a character like Lou in this setting, it immediately livens up the novel, just like she brought colour into William’s life. Her relatable lack of confidence at the beginning of the novel shined through her actions, her personality only revealed through her clothes. However, after meeting Will, they bounce off another, becoming an entirely new person – and it was easy to understand why he fell for her. This is one of the many reasons why I believe everyone can learn something from Louisa, even if it’s just that bumblebee tights are extremely fashionable.
Who is Louisa Clark?
- Also goes by the nickname, Lou.
- Described a quirky and kind-hearted.
- 26 year-old waitress at The Buttered Bun Cafe.
- Lou rarely takes risks in her life, living in the same English town for her whole life and has very few ambitions.
- Was previously in a 7 year long relationship with Patrick, tending to settle for what she had rather than following her heart.
- Receives little support from her family, living in her sisters shadow and doesn’t believe she can achieve the same.
- After losing her job, the owner deciding to close the business, she finds employment with the Traynor’s caring for their disabled son, William ‘Will’ Traynor.
Note: Louisa Clark is portrayed by Emilia Clarke in the film adaptation of Me Before You.
Favourite Quotes
“It’s not the bloody carrots that upset me. It’s having them sneaked into my food by a madwoman who addresses the cutlery as Mr and Mrs Fork.”
Me Before You
“I told him I loved him,” she said, her voice dropping to a whisper. “And he just said it wasn’t enough.” Her eyes were wide and bleak. “How and I supposed to live with that?”
Me Before You (Movie)
“I held him close and said nothing, all while telling him silently that he was loved. Oh, but he was loved.”
Me Before You
“How could I explain to this girl what Will and I had been to each other, the way I felt that no person in the world had ever understood me like he did or ever would again? How could she understand that losing him was like having a whole shot straight through me, a painful, constant reminder, an absence I could never fill?”
Me Before You
“But there, in the inky dark, half drunk from lack of sleep, with the fire and the endless sea and infinite sky, with the sounds of the music in our ears and Will smiling and my heart bursting with something I couldn’t quite identify, I just needed to dance.”
Me Before You
A Little Fool Reads 
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